Daniel Andrews claims ‘bike boy’ defamation case is politically motivated
Former prime minister Daniel Andrews claims he was being stalked by a car crash victim and his “cohort” for defamation to attract media attention and advance political agendas.
Andrews and his wife, Catherine, are defending the Federal Court case brought by 15-year-old Ryan Meuleman, known as “bike boy”, after he was hit by the Andrews family four-wheel drive vehicle while driving to the beach in January 2013.
Meuleman is seeking damages from the pair, implying that they lied about the circumstances of the collision in their press release and used legal proceedings for financial gain.
But in a defense released by the court on Friday, the pair argue they were merely trying to protect themselves from public attacks that portray them as liars and proponents of a cover-up.
Their lawyer, Leon Zwier, argues that Meuleman’s defamation case was initiated for “collateral” purposes, to attract public and media attention and to “damage his reputation”.
Defense documents also claim the purpose of the case is to “advance the personal or political agendas” of Meuleman’s supporters or to seek evidence against the couple for use in a private criminal prosecution.
Meuleman was seriously injured when the bicycle driven by Catherine Andrews crashed into the couple’s car in Blairgowrie more than a decade ago. Then-opposition leader Daniel Andrews was in the passenger seat.
Police cleared the duo of any wrongdoing. Two police officers who arrived at the scene did not breath test anyone, in violation of standard operating procedures, and as a result, they received counseling.
In September 2024, messenger of the sun Dr., a former police officer. He published the details of the report prepared by Raymond Shuey as an expert witness.
Shuey, who died before his report was made public, claimed authorities “engaged in a blatant cover-up to prevent the involvement of a political figure in a life-threatening accident.”
In response to this news, the couple made a joint press statement and stated that they had done nothing wrong.
In their statement dated 2024, it was stated that “We completely reject conspiracy theories disguised as journalism.”
“This so-called report was prepared on behalf of the clients of the lawyers who filed a lawsuit against their former lawyers and asked for money through the courts. We are not a party to this case.
“This matter has already been thoroughly and independently investigated and closed by Victoria Police and integrity agencies. We will not glorify these horrific conspiracy theories by commenting further at this time.”
Meuleman claimed that this statement was libelous; The former prime minister and his wife denied this claim.
They argue that his statements did not damage Meuleman’s reputation because it had long been known between the parties that there was an “incurable” factual dispute over who was at fault in the collision, and that this was a proportionate response to the attacks against them.
The defense alleges that Meuleman initially sought $550,000 in damages but later revised it to $50,000 and $7,000 in costs.
Court documents suggest the couple has been subject to campaigns by Meuleman or his supporters since at least 2022.
The defense argues that these supporters “had no personal interest in the trial and therefore it could be inferred that they had personal or political agendas or motivations to interfere in Mr. Meuleman’s affairs.”
The Meuleman “cohort” is said to include his “sometimes” father Peter, PR veteran Rohan Wenn, design engineer-turned-amateur detective Colin Robertson, and retired Victoria Police members Kel Glare and Shuey.
The case is expected to return to court next month.
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Rachel Eddie is The Age’s Victorian political correspondent. Contact her at rachel.eddie@theage.com.au, rachel.eddie@protonmail.com or via Signal at @RachelEddie.99.Connect with: X or email.
